Camera phones are now so common it seems surprising that they have only been around for a decade.
Today, you would be hard pressed to find a mobile without the ability to take a basic snap.
But when camera phones first surfaced, the quality of the images they produced left a lot to be desired. Blurry, grainy images were often the tell-tale sign of a camera-phone shot.
How times change.
The mobile manufacturer Nokia, which was behind some of the first camera phones, has unveiled a handset with a record-beating 41-megapixel camera.
The Nokia 808 Pureview will be available in the Middle East by the end of June, the company says. Despite its 41-megapixel sensor, the way the images are processed is just as important, says Tuula Rytila, the senior vice president of portfolio and business management in Nokia's Smart Devices division.
So it's not about the number of megapixels - it's what you do with them that counts.
The phone's Carl Zeiss lens and the way images are processed all give a better-quality image, said Ms Rytila. The zoom function can be used without loss of clarity, and the camera works in low-light settings. "With this technology, it's not about megapixels, it's about using them to solve real consumer problems."
The US$600 (Dh2,203) handset is the first to use Nokia's PureView technology. However, some commentators are surprised the 808 runs on Symbian, Nokia's old operating system, because last year struck a deal with Microsoft to use its Windows Phone operating system in high-end smartphones. But
Ms Rytila hints that may change. "We'll use this PureView technology for our future products as well - so watch this space," she says.
